Buried
by HelenaHermione
Summary: Captain Jack is buried beneath the earth, and there is not much more to that, or is there? Set in the middle of Exit Wounds, Torchwood, and after Vincent and the Doctor, Doctor Who.
1. Buried

Originally published on an RP forum, (just one post), and then expanded on Archive of Our Own, republished here.

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><p><strong>Buried<strong>

**Chapter 1**

He was buried beneath the earth.

His long-lost brother had stabbed him. And his beloved partner-the friend he had once trusted before they became so wrapped up in destroying each other as a part of the Time Agency-threw in the ring and the dirt.

He closed his eyes, and let himself be buried because that was all he could do-flinching as the clods of dirt hit his face. The ring rested on his chest, and he eventually clutched it, thinking to himself that it meant something, even though he couldn't quite figure out what-maybe it had a tracer signal?

In any case, he slipped it onto his finger as soon as he could, for it offered him the chance to be discovered. But this was it as far as he was concerned.

After everything that he had gone through, to spend eternity at the bottom of a hole-was this how he wanted to live and die? For every time that he tried to dig himself out with his handcuffed hands, he would be buried again, pressed down into the earth with the weight of the soil above him.

There was no way to escape the cycle; live, breathe in dirt, dig, be buried, die. He could not escape. Trapped and bound, hands and legs, beneath the earth-

And what was worse-to be buried so long ago...he was in Cardiff, yes, literally _in_ Cardiff's soil, but it was Cardiff before it was properly established. 27 A.D., almost 2,000 years before he was put in charge of Torchwood Three's team.

How could he do this? How could he survive that long? 2,000 years...2,000 years from now, Torchwood Three would be dealing with the aftermath of John Hart's destruction of the city, and he couldn't do anything about it.

He couldn't help them. And he certainly couldn't help himself, trapped here like this-it hurt too much.

Jack tried to calm himself down, telling himself that it would hurt less if he let himself die-without struggling too much. But it was no use; he struggled, thinking about Gray. How he wanted to destroy him for everything he had done to himself and his team, and how he wanted to love him and forgive him for what he had done, after losing him so many years ago.

John-why did he have to do this, why did he have to destroy everything Jack held dear? Well-attached to a bomb, and basically forced to do anything that Gray wanted him to do...but still, it hurt Jack to see John reduced to _this_.

And his team-Tosh, Owen, Gwen, Ianto-all of them, what were they doing without him? He couldn't imagine how they would be able to handle everything without him, with him gone, but then again, they were a pretty capable team. He was proud of them for everything they had done in the past; even their goof-ups had a way of fixing themselves up.

Yet even though he could forgive them of just about anything by now, he could not forgive himself for abandoning them-no matter the circumstances. They would have a long, uphill battle ahead of them without him there-with John, and with Gray to contend with.

How many hours? How many days? How many months, how many years, since he had been buried?

He could not figure it-if he died 10, 20, or 100 times during a day, it was still a long way ahead of him. If there was anything ahead of him-except for this.

He just kept digging.


	2. Excavated

I decided to go ahead and expand the story from one post on a roleplay forum to a whole fiasco because I felt like I wanted to explore this topic a little bit more, and the repercussions of 'mixing things up'. I thought about who I wanted to 'pick up' Jack, and, well, this seemed the most logical choice-or the best choice at this point. I thought it would be interesting to see both of their reactions.

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: Excavated<strong>

"Amy, you're going to love Maui," The Doctor was saying as he typed out the coordinates of their next destination into the TARDIS's navigation banks. "The beaches, the sand, the surf, the coconut shells, the-palm springs-"

"Palm Springs?" Amy raised her eyebrows as she sat in the chair. "Isn't that in Florida?" She said with a smirk and then a laugh.

"Ah, right, Palm Springs—well, I got that one wrong, but not the one we're going to." He said. "We're going to Maui—if I can get this thing to work right..." He whipped over to the 'mechanical' side and started checking out the problem. "We need to make an adjustment. Amy, check the viewer screen, and make sure we don't run into a problem."

"We always run into problems," She said, getting up and going over to the viewer screen.

"Nonsense, I'm always careful," The Doctor said to her, running around to head downstairs.

"Of all the nerve-" Amy said to herself, but before she could reply to him, she stopped. "Doctor, you should come see this." She stared at the viewer screen.

"What is it? Is it something important?" He said from below.

"Uh...I don't know." She said, trying to adjust the image. "It's a blip." She told him.

Something clattered below. "Big blip or little blip?" He asked.

"Uh...little blip, I guess you could say." She said, adjusting the knob. "Coming through on the Time Vortex-it's a signal, or radar of some kind."

"Mm-hmm." He said, fixing something (with the sonic screwdriver probably stuck in his mouth) as he started humming to himself. He wasn't even paying attention to her.

"It doesn't seem too big, but—TARDIS caught it," She said, trying to adjust the screen again to get more information. "Might be something important." She squinted, trying to examine the image. "Looks like it's coming from underground."

"Oh, really?" He said, popping off something below.

"And-it's in Cardiff?" She said, eyes widening.

"Cardiff!" The Doctor's head popped up from below, looking up at her in astonishment.

"Well, yeah, Cardiff, Wales—although it's not too recent," She said, checking the time signature as the Doctor ran over to join her. "Actually, I don't think it's even Cardiff, Wales yet."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"This blip is in-42 AD, or CE, whatever, Cardiff has not even been built yet."

"42 AD-Cardiff..." The Doctor said, looking up and staring off into the distance. "Do you suppose Jack will be there?" He asked Amy. "Although it is usually where Jack will be found." He shrugged.

"Uh...Doctor, who is Jack?" Amy asked.

"Jack—wait, you mean you haven't even met Jack yet?" The Doctor exclaimed, shocked. "I thought you had. I thought I had introduced you two—no, wait, that was Winston Churchill, never mind."

"I've never met Jack." Amy said, scoffing. "Or anybody by that name with you, and I think I would have remembered if I had." She said.

"Oh, of course you would have remembered Jack, if you had met him, but—have you been drinking lately?" The Doctor asked, staring at her.

"What?" She asked, turning towards him.

"Do you remember getting drunk late one night, and then waking up the next morning feeling like you had no idea of how you had spent your evening, or even of having forgotten something very important?" He asked, staring at her intently.

"Uh, Doctor—I don't remember anything like that." Amy said.

"Have you had any blackouts?" He asked, still intent.

"Watch it, Doctor." She said.

"Sorry, sorry, Amy—we'll go to Cardiff, and uncover the blip," He said, setting the new coordinates into the TARDIS. Amy shook his head, wondering what was the matter with him. He had been acting strangely ever since the Silurians had been-she shook her head, wondering if something was the matter with her.

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><p>Captain Jack Harkness had lost all sense of time and direction, except for up—up, up keeping digging up, keep digging—he pounded away at the earth as he dug, trying to make headway, but it was no use. He kept swallowing earth again. It was a bitter, cold, cruel, slightly wormy and moist piece of earth he kept swallowing; very fertile, he could tell, but not much more than that.<p>

Captain Jack had to die—there just was no way around it. He had to die, and live again...he just had to die, and live again. Jack was getting tired of it. Sometimes he let himself sleep instead of keep digging, but it was very hard to sleep deep down below when the earth was crushing down on top of you. He groaned, and swallowed.

He also 'exuded' earth, although let's not get into that right now- suffice to say, he fertilized the soil.

Suddenly, he heard a sound—it was very familiar to him, although he couldn't say how..."_Doctor_." He whispered, dying again.

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><p>"All right, we got a lock, Amy, and—here we go," The Doctor said as he flipped the switch, and the TARDIS started moving again.<p>

A moment later, he said, "We appear to have stopped, and—he should be right outside the TARDIS. Somewhere." He hesitated. "Amy, turn on the viewer screen."

She did, and told him, "It's earth, Doctor—lots and lots of earth." She was worried.

"We are underground." He added, then remarked, "Better go open the door," He then rushed down from the TARDIS console.

"Are you sure that's wise?" She asked, running up to the railing.

"Better to be foolish than wise sometimes, Amy Pond," he said as he opened the door and a pile of dirt slipped inside, but most of it was held outside by the barrier. "We better start digging," He added, and then proceeded to do just that into the pile of dirt like a little gopher.

Amy joined him, digging a little bit though not so urgently. "Are you sure that-"

"What?" He asked her, turning his head around to face her as he kept on digging.

Amy hesitated. "We are-he's buried, Doctor." She shook her head. "It might be too late." She whispered.

"It's never too late, Amelia Pond," He told her softly, and then reached inside the dirt to pull out—a shoe, or the start of a leg. "And it's never too late for Captain Jack." He smiled. "Come on, _Amelia_ Pond, and help me pull him out!" He shouted, pulling as hard as he could.

Amy groaned at being called 'Amelia', but helped out, tugging and pulling on the other man beside the Doctor until they had practically dragged him out of the earth. Even more dirt had shifted into the TARDIS, but the Doctor said it would be cleaned out eventually.

Amy stared down at Jack from where she sat on the floor. "He's dead." She said hopelessly, turning to the Doctor. "Why did we come all of this way, and why-"

"Amy, be quiet," He said, staring down at Jack as well from where he stood like he was thinking of something.

"I wish we knew—a _real_ doctor, or someone that could have saved Jack." She muttered to herself, turning back towards Jack, annoyed at the Doctor for being so heartless and cruel. He had given her hope, even.

"Or a good nurse." The Doctor muttered to himself, so softly that he thought Amy wasn't listening. She frowned to herself, annoyed at him for some other reason. "Amy, don't move." He told her louder. "Stay right there, I'm going to move over to the other side."

She turned around to watch him go. "What are-" She asked, and then turned back to Jack—"Uh, D-"

"Shh! Don't say anything. Just give him a chance to breathe." The Doctor told her as Jack was coming back to life. Amy stared down, stunned at a miracle.

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><p>"Hhhuuuuhhh-" Jack said (or gasped, really) as he came back to life, gagging on the last bit of soil left in his mouth, and still lying in dirt, but when he finally spit the last piece of soil out, he realized—he wasn't breathing in more soil. He was staring up at some bright lights-<p>

He closed his eyes. "Hello?" A female voice said.

"Is this a dream?" He asked.

"Uh—no, I don't think so, though-"

"Oh, you're a sight for sore eyes—sore eyes, if I could see." He managed to open his eyes a little bit, squinting. "It's too bright in here for me." He said. "What's your name if you aren't a dream?"

"Uh—Amy Pond-" she said.

"Amy Pond," He repeated, getting a better look at her face as his eyes adjusted a little bit more to the light. "Such a beautiful name for such a lovely face, and you are a vision of light after years of darkness." He muttered to himself.

Amy looked a little bit uncomfortable, as if she hadn't heard such words uttered to her before. What sort of a man wouldn't try to speak up to her like that? "And if we are going to keep up pretenses that this is not a dream, my name is Captain Jack Harkness, and where are we?" He laughed; he could get used to such a dream after where he had been.

"This is the TARDIS." She told him. The light above her head had resolved itself into a vision of circular patterns, retracted lighting in the roof arching above their heads—a roof similar to the coral reef pattern of the TARDIS he had known and loved, but totally different...

Captain Jack sat up. "Are you fooling me?" He asked, looking around—there's the coat rack, and the walls, more roundels, a big screen, and—no, it couldn't be...

"No, we're actually in the TARDIS." She was saying. "My name is Amy Pond, and-"

"Hello." said the stranger standing up above on the platform; waving his hand as he leaned against the railing, he looked very smart, and very uncomfortable with the whole proceeding, but he just stared at Captain Jack and Amy Pond for the moment. Captain Jack stared at him.

"Doctor-" said Jack, trying to stand, and failing to do so at the moment. He stared up at him again. "Can it really be-"

"Yes, I'm afraid it's really me, and no, you're not dreaming this." The Doctor—no, not his Doctor—said. "I'm sorry to have 'disturbed' you," He actually used air fingers to quote this, "But we found—or noticed—your blip on the radar screen, and-"

"Oh, Doctor, I'm so glad to see you." Captain Jack said, laughing as he was just glad and grateful that he had been rescued, even if it wasn't by his Doctor. He managed to get up, walking a step towards the Doctor before the Doctor came over and helped support him with a hug.

"I had hoped—I hadn't thought-" Captain Jack got a little bit choked up as he thought about everything that had happened to him, and what he wished... "I just wish you would come by to see me more often-instead of when I really need you."

"Point taken," The Doctor said, managing to extract himself a little bit from the hug to get a good look at Jack. "But then would it be so special?" He sighed, studying his old companion. "Oh, Jack, what have you gotten yourself into this time?"

"Doctor-I really needed you." Jack said, his voice a little bit stronger as he was angry and upset. "I think...I really need to sit down, or lie down-or fall down." He began to tip.

"Amy, could you help me-" The Doctor was saying.

"Sure, Doctor," She said, getting up on the other side of Jack. Jack's legs and vision were a bit wobbly, and as they got him up onto the platform, and onto the chair, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

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><p>I was a bit worried about getting the voices right. I thought Eleven merged too much with Ten sometimes, and Amy Pond-well, she is Amy Pond, and not some other companion, right? I decided to go with after Vincent and the Doctor, or after the Siliurian two-parter for the sake of getting the Doctor and his companion at a late stage of their Season 5 relationship, when she knows enough (or thinks she knows) enough about him and the TARDIS. (Plus, it's a little bit more poignant with Rory gone, and not on-board the TARDIS because of what happened, [I also could not deal with Rory just yet character-wise] and I think the Doctor has enough knowledgethinking about death at this point.) And I decided to bring Amy along, and not leave the Doctor alone with Jack, because, well, it would be a little more boring, wouldn't it?

(I considered getting old Doctor, 1100 something, or new young 11 Doctor, at about the point he left Amy after the Prisoner Zero thing was wrapped up but before their adventures, because these two by themselves might be fine...but I decided I want more zest, more zing, more choice of talk with another character wrapped up in the mix. Plus, I don't know much about how they will [old Doctor especially] react.) [Note: endnote originally written before second half of series six. Part of this story was written before end of series six, part after.]


	3. Explanations

I had to get through with this, because Jack has to sleep, and Amy has to talk to the Doctor-ask him what's going on. Because she's has got some questions, and he has got some answers, although he's not telling her everything he knows, as you well know. Goes through the Doctor's view of things a bit, backtracks into his decision making process.

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><p><strong><span>3. Explanations<span>**

"Doctor, what was that all about?" Amy asked him afterward as he and she retreated from the side of the snoring Jack. The Doctor was surprised to find out that Jack needed to sleep after being dead for however long he was, but perhaps he had wasted so much energy being underground, trying to—dig his way out, or whatever—that he had gotten weak, especially if he had been stuck down there for a very long time, trapped and unable to move or exercise any more of his muscles except for what he used. The Doctor didn't know.

He had first been curious to learn that the 'blip' on the radar screen (or viewer, to be more precise) was located in Cardiff, 42 AD, and he couldn't help wondering if Jack had gone back in time. Funny sort of thing if he did, but then once he (the Doctor) found out that the 'blip' was underground, and that the underground was full of soil, and not some secret hidden base of operations, then the Doctor was worried that Jack was in some sort of trouble, being buried.

However, in the midst of the operation to pull Jack out of the soil, the Doctor started to worry again, this time wondering if he was doing the right thing, and not interfering with some sort of set timeline. But Amy was here, and he did not want to worry her or make her ask him some annoying questions about what he was doing if he abandoned the effort. Plus, he was certain he could finagle some bypass—get Jack buried again later on, or soon afterwards—so that he did not interfere with the timelines too much. He could prove something to Jack, that he did not abandon his friends when they were in need, and then Jack would owe him a favor—instead of the other way around…

Plus, Amy had to know about Jack, and what he could do. The cracks were responsible for Rory being dead, and gone from Amy's life, erased from existence, but the dead could come back to life, just like Jack proved. The Doctor knew that he should not hold on to false hope for Rory ever coming back when there was little chance, little hope for that, but it was never too late—never. The Doctor would see to that.

Though the Doctor did not know just what he could do yet about the cracks, and Rory, perhaps something could be done to prevent whatever it was that involved a piece of his TARDIS from happening.

"I don't know. I mean, what do you mean?" The Doctor asked her.

"You—you abandoned him, too?" Amy asked him, annoyed and upset. Oh, abandonment issues rear their ugly little heads; he couldn't help what had happened to her, it had been an accident and part of her time stream now, but still she was sensitive about it. "You—left him to die, or…come back to life?" She asked.

"I did not abandon him." The Doctor told her, upset by that remark. "I did not leave him because I wanted to, I left him because…I had to." He said, sighing to himself. "I left him a long time ago—in another place, not Cardiff, in the future, and then—I lost track of him for awhile." He paced around a little bit. "I found him again, but—things had changed…" He remarked.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked him.

"Your turn, eh?" He said, smiling at her. "It's complicated, isn't it? Almost as complicated as my life with River Song." He sighed. He wished he could solve that problem as well. "I had changed. Jack had changed. I missed bumping into him because we jumped around-I through time and space, he going on special secret little missions across the globe for his special secret little organization Torchwood."

"Torchwood? Are you jealous he was with Torchwood?" Amy asked.

The Doctor scoffed. "Jealous? Why should I be jealous of Torchwood? In any case, he was real busy as well during this time period. He had gone back into the past, and he never settled down for very long." The Doctor tried to explain to Amy.

He had stood to the side earlier to see Jack from a distance, to study him and determine what time in Jack's life he had caught him in, for there were plenty of times in Jack's life the Doctor had criss-crossed with him, going in opposite ways, and had to avoid him. He also had wanted to surprise Jack with this appearance, in case Jack did not know who he already was. The Doctor studied Jack in those first few moments of life, and determined that Jack was younger than he had seen him in a long while—younger than he had been when the Doctor had seen him at the bar, and sent Alonso over to him, younger than he had been when the Daleks had invaded Earth, and the reality bomb was about to blow up, with all of his most recent companions—Jack included—mixed up in the affair. He had determined this in those few precious private moments Jack had with Amy before realizing where he was, and now the Doctor wanted to know just what had happened to Jack—what had changed him.

"You said he stayed in Cardiff!" Amy cried.

"What?" The Doctor said.

"He was usually to be found in Cardiff, that's what you said." Amy insisted.

"Well, yes, when he wasn't running around with Torchwood or on his own. But that's not the point," The Doctor said, trying to get back on track, "He was in troubling times, all the way from the turn of the 20th century to-"

"20th century?" Amy said.

"20th century, maybe even earlier, the first times 'aliens' popped up on your planet—they've been there throughout your history, scattered all across the place, but they really come on with a vengeance in the 20th century." The Doctor said. "Anyway, Cardiff was, and is, a hotbed of Rift activity, the Rift being a wormhole where things from other spaces and times showed up in Cardiff—not always on a regular basis, but regularly enough. Torchwood, Jack's organization, dealt with the alien threat—and I was considered an alien threat by them for a long while."

"An alien-" Amy laughed. "A threat? You-" She hesitated a little bit, considering what he had done in the time she had known him. He was threatening to some. "All right, so Jack-Jack was on the wrong side?" She asked.

"No, not particularly, for the most part he's just been on his own side, surviving, but he did say he tried to remake Torchwood, or at least his part of Torchwood, into my image-trying to be noble." The Doctor sighed. "He is noble in his own way, for dealing with the mundane, or what is mundane by galactic standards—the day to day affairs of policing a highly volatile state where time and space are being messed up." He remarked.

"What-" Amy asked, confused.

"Aliens and humans intersect, sometimes not in a good way as you well know, and Torchwood cleans up the messes in Cardiff." The Doctor explained. "And that's what it's all about. I can't deal with the messes sometimes, you know that. I can't deal with all of the disasters in time and space. It's physically impossible, not to mention it makes my eyes twitch just thinking about all of the wars, crimes, catastrophes, famines, diseases, climate changes, and-there is just no way I can handle all of that, I'm just one—the last Time Lord. There are limitations to my ability to interfere in anything, a lot of limitations as a matter of fact, because if something is meant to be, then it has to be." He said.

Amy sniffed. "Being a Time Lord doesn't carry with it a lot of perks," She remarked, "Except for the TARDIS and the time traveling and-"

"Okay, so sometimes being a Time Lord is good, but sometimes it is bad. You understand that. Only when time goes wrong-when things get so fouled that they are not meant to be-am I allowed to go in and do something." The Doctor said. "Torchwood, however, does not interfere in the same way that I do, it does not deal with the big galactic/universe-sized threats. Torchwood—Jack's Torchwood, in any case—only deals with what's going on in Cardiff, or in the local area, that might threaten Cardiff and its citizens. Possibly the whole world if it gets too out of control, but mostly Cardiff. Can you imagine that?" The Doctor laughed. "Me, stuck in one place and time for the rest of my life, fighting for the people there, of course, but waiting for something to happen, and dealing with the things that occur one day at a time."

"Jack stayed in Cardiff, in Torchwood, dealing with all of that stuff..." Amy said, glancing at the unconscious man. "Wow." She said.

"Yes, wow, you can't imagine that." The Doctor said. "You can't possibly imagine me doing all of that stuff as well. It's just not possible for me." The Doctor said.

"And so I travel, and deal with my own problems as I see them coming." He said, turning around to face the console. "Deal with the problems and issues that I come across that affect not just one world, but sometimes multiple worlds, the universe, and more. I like to travel and explore—see new things, or old things again through new eyes." He smiled.

"Torchwood is different." He frowned, getting more serious. "I can't trust Torchwood. Torchwood has a dark past, one that not even Jack is willing to acknowledge. They had to deal with some serious stuff, and they turned hard—harder than even I did at times, I suppose." He said, hesitating as he was not quite sure if he was right, but probably right enough.

"You did come back for him eventually, didn't you?" Amy asked. "You did come back, and-help Jack, didn't you, even with his involvement in Torchwood?" She asked.

"Yes, I did, but would you believe that he had to wait almost—no, over—100 years to see me again in person?" The Doctor sighed.

"What?" Amy said.

"He really wanted to see me by then," The Doctor said. "And ask about his 'powers', how he had gotten near-immortality, being resurrected again, and what he could do about them." The Doctor shook his head. "I guess he was tired of living by then, or wanted to avoid the whole mess of living and dying again."

"You didn't solve his problem, did you?" Amy said.

"No, not really, I couldn't do anything about it." He said. "He had gotten his 'ability' from somebody else who had messed up with the timelines, and brought him back to life after he had died in battle. Then—well, she lost her ability to do anything about that-"

"She?" Amy asked.

"Amy, she-" The Doctor hesitated. "Her name was Rose, and she looked into the Heart of the TARDIS. No human—not even me, directly for a long period of time anyway, can stare into such unimaginable power without...well, getting a bit 'wigged out' in some weird way, and it was killing her." He said. "She had inhaled all of this power, and was using it to destroy Daleks left and right, make things right in her own mind, but it was unnatural and it was destroying her as well. I had to absorb all of that energy from her, and eject it back into the TARDIS as well, but it still nearly killed me—being the conduit—and then I had to get a whole new face when I regenerated." He said, rubbing his chin.

"My old face, not this face, my old face was wider and a little bit shorter with lighter brown hair that stuck up a bit more and fizzled down in the middle." The Doctor continued, feeling his hair. "Plus, I had to slick it back myself, and I think I had less hair back then. Now my hair is naturally smoother, shinier, and slicker than it was back then, and has more volume, and I'm just going to stop right now." He said, seeing the weird look on Amy's face.

Amy shook her head. "Doctor, you have...a complicated life."

"Thank you for being so understanding," The Doctor said, smiling.

"What else can I be?" Amy Pond said, sighing as she threw her hands up in despair. "You don't give me much choice!"

"I give you all of this!" The Doctor remarked, gesturing towards the whole TARDIS.

"Yes, but you—and everything around you—comes with a whole lot of baggage!" She said, storming off.

"Yes, I know." He said, sighing and wandering off as well, flipping a few switches on the console to console himself. He did the right things, right? Or at least he tried to.

* * *

><p>Well, what do you think? I hoped you liked it, not too boring-my spin on things with the whole TorchwoodDoctor Who, Jack and Doctor, what's-up with-them problem. Amy has some answers, but not enough, and Jack's going to wake up soon now-promise.


	4. Out of Sequence

Here's a new chapter-I add some stuff onto here that wasn't in 'An Archive of Our Own' version. You may notice this if you have read the other version. Here, I include a new change of scenery in the middle of a dream sequence Jack has with-well, can't tell you yet if you haven't read this, spoilers. Slightly romantic. Also, new chapter title, better chapter title.

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><p><strong>Chapter 4: Out of Sequence<strong>

Amy Pond shook her head. She was used to the Doctor being 'obtuse', he had a head that could come up with a plan apparently on the spot without explaining what it was or what was going to happen next, or else trying to explain what it was but never being able to find the right words that would make her understand it, just spouting nonsense. It made her head ache sometimes.

But having this whole secret life and secret past that she never knew he had—interacting with people like Captain Jack, who could not die, and Rose who inhaled the Time Vortex or Heart of the TARDIS—she just wasn't used to this yet. She had met River Song, but River Song wasn't special in the sense that she had powers; she was just one step ahead of the Doctor. That was unique, and it made Amy Pond smile, but it wasn't 'magical'. This Captain Jack was magical in a sense. The Doctor was—well, he was kooky, but he wasn't magical, unless you counted that traveling through time and space bit, which was pretty neat.

No, what really made her upset was the fact that he kept all of these secrets about his past from her—that was how obtuse the Doctor was being. Sometimes he was an open book to her, she could read page after page of his marvelous adventures, but these days, it seemed to her that he was hiding more from her, and she hated that. She hated the fact that he kept himself locked up from her, and she wondered what he was hiding.

Seemed the Doctor had a surprise for her every week, or every day at least. And the way he had explained it all neat and proper, tidied it all up, did it not? Let's not ask any more questions about his past, but it still didn't make sense to her as she wondered why he hadn't brought up, 'oh, did I happen to mention Torchwood?' the first time around, why he had not explained all of this before to her. Secrets.

Perhaps he did make up his explanation as he went along just then? Or perhaps he did not explain all of this to her at first because it was needlessly complicated, it was a need-to-know basis for him. Quite possible. Something else she had to keep in mind. The Doctor keeps secrets until you need to know them, and does not explain them fully. She wrote down in her mind.

* * *

><p>Captain Jack slept, and dreamed. He was digging again underground, only this time he was about as tall as a mole, standing inside his hollowed-out burrow, with plans to make a tunnel that extended outward and upward, digging towards the sun and sky.<p>

"You're not really dreaming about this thing again, are you?" Jack heard, and turned around to see John Hart standing a short distance away, dressed in leather, with a bit of a surly British accent to his voice, and bleach-blond hair. "Give it a rest already."

"I always wondered what you would look like dressed up like this," Jack said, studying John. "I thought you would be taller."

"So did I." John said, shaking his head. "Ah, well, give it a rest already, you're out of this mess. You're in the TARDIS again, isn't that blooming wonderful?" He took out a cigarette, and lit a match. "You're not dreaming about that part." He said, starting to smoke.

"How did I-" Jack started to ask.

"Or would you rather dream about this?" John asked, and snapped his fingers. The scene changed from the mole hole to a big band dance hall, circa 1941, with the music swinging almost like jazz, and John and Jack both dressed up in white tuxedos now, sitting at a table looking out across the dance floor. "I always wanted to do this." John said, smiling at Jack.

"You do look nice." Jack admitted. "How did I wind up in the TARDIS?" He asked.

"Does it matter?" John said, gesturing toward the dance floor. "Look around you! It's like 1941, the music is fine, the dancing is good, and you and I are together!" He sighed. "It was the ring I gave you, by the way," He muttered, pointing at Jack's left ring finger. "It had a tracking signal, but I thought I was the only one who could find you in the future—the present—but that doesn't even matter."

John snuffed his cigarette out in an ash tray, and took a drink of bourbon. "What's important now is that you can come save me and all of your Torchwood friends from Gray. Isn't that what you want?" John asked as Jack looked down. "So, wake up, go fetch your Doctor, and tell him where and when you want to go." John said.

"I—I can't," Jack said, looking down.

"Why not?" John asked, staring at him.

"I'm—I'm afraid-" Jack laughed. "I'm afraid of what I might find when I go back. With you and Gray in the picture..."

"You're afraid of what we've done to Torchwood. And Cardiff." John said, putting his drink down. "You're afraid of—are they really that important to you?"

"I'm afraid so." Jack said, shaking his head.

"Come dance with me." John said, holding out his hand. "We'll make your troubles go away, just for a short while."

"I will go back," Jack said, grabbing John's hand and dancing with him for a bit. "I can't let them die alone."

"But you are afraid that they will die, and you can't help them."

"I've lost members of my Torchwood teams before, many of them over the years, but this group—this group is special to me. I've built them up, I've trained them in handling difficult situations, I've been closer to some of them than I have been with anyone for years." Jack said. "I can't face losing them, and I can't disappoint them."

"Decisions, decisions. Jack, you were bound to face this situation sooner rather than later," John said, looking up at him. "Given the facts of your life. Number one—immortal. Number two—dangerous situations. Number three—crazy people."

"I know that. I just thought it would be later rather than sooner."

"Jack, Jack, my poor Jack..."

"John, why is your hair like that?" Jack asked.

"What? This?" John said, pointing at his bleach-blond hair. "Oh, you know, I just wanted to try something new." He smiled. "Besides, I thought you might like it." He vanished.

* * *

><p>Jack woke up. He opened his eyes to find himself lying in a reclined position on the sofaloveseat 'jump' chair beside the console. The lights had dimmed a little bit.

He sat up. "Hello, Captain Jack." said a female voice he recognized-

"Amy Pond." Jack managed to say, turning around to face the fair red-haired 'newcomer' to the TARDIS family. She was different to Rose, and Martha. "Glad to meet you." He said, holding out his hand. "Hope I didn't disturb you."

"I wasn't expecting to-" Amy Pond said, and shook his hand. "I wasn't expecting to meet a man who could come back from the dead." She said. "I've met several other people who were friends with the Doctor-not exactly the most ordinary of people, but never-never had I imagined..."

"The Doctor didn't prepare you well, did he?" He asked with a laugh. "He always does that-springs a trap on you when you least expects it. Leaves you in the dust, and forces you to come along with him, keep up as best as you can, and then fend for yourself in the end." He sighed. "Disappointment has a name-the Doctor." He muttered.

Amy Pond frowned and lowered her head, blushing with embarrassment. "The Doctor told me we would be meeting Jack, Captain Jack he soon added, but nothing more." She said. "We found your signal and tracked you down, dug you up, we were in a bit of a rush. I suppose the Doctor suspected something was wrong, or 'off' when we found your signal in 42 AD, but-well, he didn't have time to explain everything, I suppose."

"Never does, does he?" Captain Jack laughed again. "Always a fast talker, that Time Lord. He babbles on whenever we're on the run, doesn't explain half of the terms we don't understand."

Amy Pond smiled a bit. "He does try, though, but when things get tough-he's pressed for time usually. But he did sit down with me, while you were asleep, and-discussed some of the problems he's had with Torchwood." She said.

Captain Jack sighed. "I wish he would sit down with me and give me that same little talk. I wish he would explain to me why he doesn't like Torchwood."

"He said he couldn't handle your problems." Amy Pond interjected. "Said he couldn't handle the day-to-day affairs of cleaning up messes..."

"Messes? Is Torchwood the trash collectors or the cleaning crew?" Jack scoffed. "I suppose we are tasked with some of the dirtiest, menial jobs in the universe, but that is still no excuse. These are good people that I work with, even if they do get fouled or messed up with the trouble in their lives." He sighed. "I suppose the Doctor did talk a lot, didn't he?" He asked.

"More than anything." Amy Pond said. "He does talk a lot more than he does things rapid-fire." She said.

"He talks up a storm, that's why they call him the Oncoming Storm!" Captain Jack laughed. "Although I suppose sometimes he does talk so much because he's alone, or has only one other companion with him. He doesn't have anything else to fill up the space with, doesn't have anyone else to share talk time with too much."

Amy Pond frowned. "One other companion..." She said, and then shook her head. "Maybe that's so, but sometimes he's quiet, too quiet." She said. "He's always thinking, always planning something." She said half to herself. "I wish I could get inside his head sometimes and figure out what he's thinking about that's so important that he just can't-"

"Well, I suppose I leave you two alone for too long, it's natural that you all will start talking about me," said the Doctor as he flicked the lights on even brighter.

* * *

><p>Captain Jack and Amy glanced away from the glare, shielding their eyes as Captain Jack looked down at the floor. "It looks...shiny," He said, glancing up at the Doctor. He still couldn't get over it. The Doctor wasn't his Doctor anymore-not the first Doctor he had met, not the second, but a third instead.<p>

The first Doctor he had met was his favorite, in terms of how he had looked up to the man, almost like a second father to him. The second Doctor was almost just as sweet, and certainly as funny, certainly more of a buddy or companion to him, especially with all of the dangers that they had faced together and how closer together they were in terms of experience and power. The Doctor was a Time Lord, after all, and he was now immortal, not just a Time Agent but also a member of Torchwood. They were sort of even, balanced each other out, and were used to leading people by now.

"Much brighter than the old version, I have to admit, more on the techno-groovy side," The Doctor said, smiling and dancing a little bit. This third Doctor-who was he?

"How did it get like this?" Captain Jack asked.

"Fire." The Doctor said, serious. "I had a more-explosive regeneration than the last," He said, glancing around. "Radiation poisoning, it's complicated," He said, frowning. "In any case, how are you, Jack? How have you been?" He asked, trying to sound cheery. "When was the last time we saw each other, the Master incident?"

"Yeah, that was-why would you ask me that?" He asked.

"Might have been in the past for him, but in the future for you." Amy said, smiling.

"Amy-" The Doctor said, trying to shush her.

"Wait, have you met me since?" Captain Jack asked, shocked and looking up. "In the past for you, but in the future for me? What happened?" He asked urgently.

"Amy, we have got to have a long talk about not interrupting me when I'm trying to get around some delicate little matter," The Doctor said to her, and then shook his head. "I'm sorry, I can't-I can't spoil this. Leastways I don't think I can spoil this." He said to Jack, muttering the last.

"Doctor, what are you talking about?" Jack said.

The Doctor sighed. "Jack, you were supposed to stay buried." The Doctor said.

"What?" Amy said, looking up. "That-you mean-we weren't just going to leave him buried there, were you?"

"He always leaves me behind." Jack muttered.

"No, I-I wasn't going to just leave him there," The Doctor sighed, looking at Amy. "Not after you found him, but-I had worried that it was too soon for him to be 'unburied'. Jack, you-you have been buried for awhile, right?" He asked.

"Since 27 A.D., I think that was what I heard my-my burial party say," Captain Jack said, frowning at this point, but then he continued, "It has been-I heard this lovely young woman say it was 42 A.D. now, 15 years of excruciating pain and suffering for me."

He sighed. "Being buried is not a trip in the park. Suffocation and hopelessness, trying to dig my way out, tedium and, well, just trying to come to grips with what happened-Doctor, can you honestly say it was not right for you and Amy Pond to unearth me? And can you honestly forgive me if I say-are you nuts for trying to tell me that I was supposed to stay buried? For how long, Doctor? For how long?" He asked emphatically.

"Well, how's about-give or take-500 to 1900 years from now?" The Doctor said.

"That's insane!" Amy Pond said, looking up. "What, you weren't supposed to find him?"

"No, that was an accident. That was a 'blip' on the radar screen we weren't supposed to find until-you found him." The Doctor said.

"Thank you, Amy."

"You're welcome, Captain Jack."

"So, let me get this straight, Doctor-" Captain Jack laughed. "You were supposed to fly right by me, without even noticing me, while I suffered? And I-"

"Amy Pond and I got you out, Captain Jack, and we were there to rescue you. You would have been down there for a long time, but now-we can get you closer to your destination time, without all of that pain and suffering. You're welcome." He added.

"Doctor, are you-are you just going to bury me again?" Captain Jack asked. "Can't you-why can't you just take me back, straight to my own time and place, right when and where I was when-you know?" He asked.

"Captain Jack-I'm sorry, but that's not the way it works." The Doctor said.

"You're sorry?" Captain Jack gasped. "You're always sorry!" He exclaimed. "You're-"

"Captain Jack-Doctor-" Amy said, looking back and forth between them. "Look, I don't understand this, I never have, but-"

The Cloister Bell rang. Everyone looked up, and then slam, bang, something seemed to be hitting the ship, rocking it back and forth.

"What's happening?" Captain Jack called.

"They're-they're-" The Doctor appeared to be examining the viewer screen. "Reapers." He hissed.

"Reapers?" Amy asked.

"I thought they weren't-" Captain Jack said.

The Doctor punched a few buttons, and a holographic screen appeared in front of Amy and Captain Jack, showing the creatures attacking the TARDIS. "Reapers-they feast on areas affected by temporal paradoxes," He said, looking towards Captain Jack.

"Oh, what, I'm to blame for-" Another Reaper slammed into the TARDIS, trying to rip through the force field. "Hang on-I've been a temporal paradox before." He said.

"I went back in time and met the previous Captain Jack in World War 2, I've been around Cardiff in that same time period and my previous self was all over the place, especially in London, during World War 2."

"Wait a minute, what-" Amy Pond said.

"That's different! You're-you were supposed to be in those times and places!" The Doctor called.

"Wait a minute, but-if I'm supposed to be a fixed point in time and space, then how can I be a temporal paradox if I'm so messed up to begin with?" Captain Jack asked.

"That—that's a good question, actually," The Doctor said thoughtfully. "You know, I've really only seen the Reapers once or twice, and-they are always around at the oddest of times and-" Bling, bling.

"Oh no." The Doctor said, staring at the screen. "We're going to be thrown." The Doctor said, panicking. "The TARDIS can't handle this much more. We're going to be-transferred to somewhen else." He said, practically whispering

"Somewhen-when and where precisely?" Amy Pond asked.

"I don't know-let's find out." The Doctor said, smiling.

"Here we go again." Captain Jack said, smiling as well as he couldn't help it. It was the Doctor, after all.

* * *

><p>Yay! I know-Spike as Captain John Hart, right? Couldn't resist. Plus, dance hall sequence! And I can't help wondering about those Reapers (I want to say Reavers, though) from Father's Day-very curious that they show up at one paradox, with Pete, Rose's dad, and not at other paradoxes. Makes you think, huh? Anyway, I'll get to that if I can. Might update soon. Ciao. (Surprises in next few chapters, big surprises!)<p> 


	5. The Great Sundialer

Here we go on a crazy adventure...

* * *

><p><strong>5. The Great Sundialer<strong>

The Cloister Bell pealed, pounding louder than ever before as Captain Jack, Amy Pond, and the Doctor held on tight to the console. "Uh-oh." said the Doctor.

"Uh-oh what?" said Captain Jack, unnerved and unhinged by this whole experience he had been dumped into-'unearthed' might have been the proper term.

"I think we're breaking apart," The Doctor cried as the TARDIS ripped.

Amy Pond screamed as 'dong, dong!' went the bell, and the walls seemed to dissolve around them, leaving nothing but a vast emptiness of black space. Jack cried out in alarm as they held on to the console, their legs flailing out behind them as they were losing—he was not about ready to let go—oh, Amy's bum did sort of look nice, Jack thought to himself as she was curled around the console now.

"We're losing gravity," The Doctor said, his voice echoing as they were both falling and floating upwards. "It's not—we're not supposed to be doing this!" He cried.

"You're in charge of this thing!" Captain Jack and Amy both shouted at him at about the same time.

"Okay, don't get angry with me," the Doctor remarked, slightly morose as he stated, "Though this does feel sort of familiar..."

"Can't you just-wiggle something?" Amy Pond asked.

"Oh, I like the sound of that," Jack said, staring at her bum again.

"Shut up!" The Doctor cried. "It's not that simple! I can't just readjust—oh," The Doctor said, attempting to climb up onto the console. Jack and Amy rolled their eyes. "I wonder if I can-" The Doctor squeezed a tube. "No, nothing there," He said, attempting to slide himself over. "If I can just-" He accidently kicked a lever over.

The TARDIS console flipped over. "Ah!" screamed Amy and Captain Jack, barely hanging on again as they were hanging-Amy Pond slipped slightly, one hand loose, and the Doctor reached out to grab that hand. But Captain Jack fell instead, losing his grip completely.

"Noooo!" Captain Jack yelled, falling into darkness.

"Jack!" Amy cried.

"Amy! I'm sorry, I can't-" The Doctor strained, trying to hold on to her with one hand, and hold on to the console as well. "I can't hold on to you for much longer!" He cried. "Grab onto something!"

"Why did you let him fall, and not me?" Amy asked, reaching out towards a bicycle pump.

"Is this really the time to be-?" The Doctor grimaced. "I can't hold on to two people at once!" He cried. "You were the one who fell first, and I grabbed onto you without even realizing-"

"Captain Jack!" Amy cried, her free hand flailing, unable to reach anything. "What about-you said there wasn't any gravity! How could he fall?"

"I readjusted something by accident," He said. "It flipped things over, now hurry!" He cried, straining to hold on to her, her hand slipping from his.

Amy Pond strained..."I can't-you have to let me go!" She cried, turning towards him.

"Let you go? Never! I can't-" The Doctor hesitated. "We'll both go together." He cried.

"You mean that?" Amy Pond said, looking up at him hopelessly.

"Sure." The Doctor said, trying to smile. "It'll be an adventure. You ready?" She nodded, and he told her again, "It'll be an adventure." He let go of the TARDIS console, saying good-bye to it.

"Geroni—moooooooooo..." The Doctor called out as they fell, but Amy Pond had let go of his hand by accident, and they fell separately.

* * *

><p>"Ahhhhhh!" Captain Jack yelled as he spun out of control, hurling through space-<p>

"Uh!" He said, as he landed splat on the floor of-Captain Jack raised his head after a moment's recovery. Why wasn't he flattened like a pancake? The force of the impact should have killed him, so why did he sting just a little bit? It was—a metal floor he had landed on-

He looked around. He wasn't in the TARDIS anymore, nor was he in space, he was in a small steel room, floor to ceiling, with a slim opening on the other side leading out into a hallway; similar to the sort of-

He paused. "Help?" He said, staring at the opening-"Help!" He cried, getting up, and—

"Uh!" He was shocked back by the red laser bars that nearly killed him.

"A prison cell-" He mumbled, waking up from his daze. "In some kind of-" He paused in his mumbling as he heard a familiar humming sound. "Spaceship." He said, sighing to himself.

"Well, I'm in a spaceship, not on Earth anymore-yay." He falsely cheered, feeling sort of dejected about losing his friends.

Amy Pond and the Doctor weren't here, or at least—not yet...he looked around, wondering if they might arrive in the same cell that he did. Though that could be hoping for too much, if whatever sort of wormhole or vortex they were in had shifted.

"Let's see what kind of spaceship I'm in," Jack decided, knowing that he could not wait for his friends to arrive when the Doctor had let go of him-Jack could stand looking after himself for a little awhile.

"Officer, officer!" He called, getting up and getting as close to the bars as he could. "Guard! Guard!" He cried.

Stomp, stomp...*grunt* said the figure that turned towards him, and removed its helmet. "Bo." said the Judoon.

"Oh, what-" Jack said, annoyed that it had to be the Judoon. They weren't much into sex, being similar to the clone armies of the Sontarans—maybe the Cybermen.

The Judoon held up its translator device, which took in the string of words that Jack uttered in that moment, and said, "Identify: Earth English, with a touch of Balealin," The Judoon looked him over, and frowned even more than the rhino-head usually did. "You are not supposed to be in here." The Judoon said.

"Oh, thank you," Captain Jack said, slightly sarcastic and slightly relieved that was cleared up for him.

"How did you get in here?" The Judoon asked.

"Well, if I could-" Captain Jack said, looking up and pointing at the ceiling of the cell he must have fallen through to get in here. "If I could explain it, then I wouldn't be in this mess," He said.

The Judoon looked up at the ceiling he pointed at, and then got out his other device-Jack held still as it scanned him. "Identify: humanoid Balealien. Kaliya Narfarari, or-" The Judoon paused as it shook its device. "This is incorrect. You have time disrupture."

"What?" Captain Jack said, still stunned-Kaliya? No one had called him that since-since he had taken his name... "Where am I? What is this ship?" He asked.

"You are on the Sundialer. The Great Sundialer," The Judoon said. "You are also on this ship as well."

The Sundialer-it didn't make sense to him, he didn't recognize- "Wait a minute, what do you mean, I'm-I'm on this ship as well?" He asked. "You mean-there is another me on here as well?"

The Judoon stared at him, its ears twisting as if it was still trying to figure this out as well. "Correct. You have time disrupture." It said.

"Stop saying that! The Doctor..." Jack said, groaning. "I don't remember-I don't remember any of this," He said, looking up at the ceiling. "Am I in my own past?" He asked. "Or in my future? And-what if I am in my past-" He gasped. "The two years that were missing." He whispered, wiping his hair back. "The two years that-"

The Judoon growled. "Come with me," It said, dialing a number pad next to the cell to turn off the bars. "We shall have to investigate." It said.

"Where are you taking me?" Jack asked, looking up.

"To you." The Judoon replied.

"Of course." Jack nodded.

* * *

><p>"Whhhhaaaa!" Amy Pond cried, trying to swim in the ether that surrounded her as she fell. "Docccctteeerrrrr..." She cried as she splashed- *cough*cough* underwater...She managed to emerge from the water. "Oh my," She gasped, spitting up water before she swam to the shore.<p>

"I'm all drenched and wet-" She said, pulling herself out. "I'm-covered-" She grimaced as she ripped off leeches from her skin. "Ick," She said, trying to remove as many as she could. She hated the sight of blood, especially her own.

She shuddered and sighed, looking around. "Great place to wind up on an alien planet, in the middle of a swamp." She said. "And how did I wind up-" She frowned, and sighed.

"Never mind, don't try to figure it out. Nothing makes sense anymore. Nothing has, ever since I-" She sighed. "Met the Doctor. I mean, I can't even remember why I went out with him on this-trip. I remember I was dreading something." She frowned.

"That's funny. I'm pretty sure of that much at least, but I just can't remember what it was I was dreading," She said, sighing. "Nothing makes sense anymore."

Something hooted up in the trees, and she glanced up. "A swamp on an alien planet-" She said. "Not a very good place to be," She muttered to herself, getting up and walking away from the shore, shivering.

"Cold and wet-talking to myself-I must be running a fever by now," She said, deciding to head in a random direction in the hopes of finding the Doctor or Captain Jack very soon. She did not notice the distant 'satellite' orbiting the planet that she was on, far above its atmosphere-how could she? It was too far up.

* * *

><p>"Ooooohhhhh, there's no place like home," The Doctor sang, falling through ethereal, eternal darkness—much like his life these days. "For the holidays, you can't beat home sweet hooommmmeee..." He sang, and then gulped. "Ammyyy!" He cried.<p>

He landed-glass. He was falling-no, sliding down the glass, and-oh, he couldn't breathe. "Hep, hep," The Doctor said, choking as he felt the vacuum of space—

Someone grabbed him. "Bring him in." A voice said over a radio-the Doctor couldn't hear much more, though. He started to black out as he was dragged into an airlock.

The outside door closed, the inside door opened, and the Doctor inhaled some fresh air. He was alive. "Bring him in-is he dead?" Someone yelled in the distance.

"Check his pulse." Another person said, voice slightly muffled before he removed his astronaut helmet. "Where is the oxygen mask?" He cried.

Two people were fumbling about, the oxygen mask was slipped on over the Doctor's face, and his eyelids started to flutter, his surroundings a little fuzzy. "Breathe in and out, in and out," A soothing voice told him.

"Hang in there, buddy." The astronaut was saying.

"Heartbeat is good-second heart-second heart-!" The fourth person said.

"We're got a Time Lord here!" The astronaut pumped his fist in the air and whooped for joy. "No wonder he is still alive! Takes a lot more than a couple of seconds without air to kill a Time Lord!" He exclaimed.

"Bring him here to me-I want to see him." The fifth and final person said.

The Doctor had thought there were only 4 other people on board this vessel, including the astronaut who had rescued him, a nice sort of fellow, or at least in this room. But now that he was slowly regaining consciousness, he realized it was five people-and he knew who the fifth person was.

The Doctor removed the oxygen mask himself, and slowly got up-staring at the figure sitting in the corner. He was dressed in a frock coat, a waistcoat with cravat and pants, legs crossed at the knees with dress shoes on his feet, and curls-lots and lots of curls on his head. He was out of place here, but then again, so was he.

"Well, well—first time we met?" The Eighth Doctor asked.

"Oh my, well, I suppose you can say that," The Eleventh Doctor said, still staring.

"We're about to dock with the Great Sundialer!" The pilot announced from the cockpit.

* * *

><p>What do you think? I do not know much about the Eighth Doctor-sorry. I probably should see the TV movie at least. The other people on his ship-I've read Wikipedia on his other companions Fritz, Charley, Anji-sorry, no, these are not any of them. Just some people he met. Though if I ever do get the chance to read some 8th Doctor Who books, or comics, any suggestions?<p>

P.S., very proud of different character responses to fall...

Sorry if it's been awhile since I posted. I also would like to remark that the scene with the TARDIS console is reminiscent of scenes from both the televised 'The Mind Robber' and the book 'Dead of Winter' by James Gross. A very good experimental book of the Doctor Who format in my opinion. Anyway, please read and review, I did change some things from the first draft. Also, more good things to come ahead!


	6. The Captain

6. The Captain

"I suppose you are-" The 8th Doctor started to say.

"I do not wish to talk about this right now." The Eleventh Doctor said, putting the oxygen mask back on to breathe in and out. He could not be dealing with this right now, in the middle of losing Jack and Amy to a temporal paradox-the illogical—

"Why not?" The Eighth Doctor said. The astronaut who had saved the 11th Doctor sat on the other side of the 8th Doctor, and he kept glancing back and forth between 11 and 8. There was something familiar about him, the 11th Doctor thought to himself.

"Well, for one thing, I just got rescued from the vacuum of space," The 11th Doctor said, removing his mask. "And for another, I'm-I'm dealing with some problems."

"By the way, how did you-" The Eighth Doctor smirked, pointing out to the blackness of space. "I-"

"I don't wish to discuss it!" The Eleventh Doctor said, putting the mask back on. This was going to be tricky. He was going to have to manage going through whatever his previous self was going through, and then-find Jack and Amy, if they could be found—this was going to be tricky. There would be little chance of them surviving out there in space, landing on a vessel much like he had.

"What is going on here?" The astronaut asked.

"I'll explain later." The 8th Doctor told the astronaut, before he sighed and leaned back, shaking his head. _Have I become such an obstinate fellow?_ The 8th Doctor thought, sending the message to 11.

"You have no idea." The 11th Doctor muttered out loud.

"This is Captain Jacob Baker of the RRS Sinestra, requesting permission to dock with the Great Sundialer," The captain, who was also the pilot, was at the comm. "Come in, Sundialer."

"Permission granted," Another familiar voice replied as the 11th Doctor gasped and turned about, wondering if it was—

"Just keep breathing, and relax," The co-pilot-Lt. Carolina Stuart-told him. "You're lucky that Richard was right outside here-"

"Fixing the antenna array-dang thing busted loose again," Richard said, holding out his hand to 11. "Sergeant Richard Myers-officially the lowest ranking member of this crew." He said as the 11th Doctor shook his hand.

"I traveled with the Doctor here a couple of times before, so I know a thing or two about Time Lords. What's your name?" Richard asked.

"The Partisan." The 11th Doctor said, as his former self lifted an eyebrow.

"Glad to meet you, Partisan," said Richard, smiling. "And that's Dr. Lt. Arnold Pullman over there, degree in psychology, I believe."

"Also I happen to be a physicist," Dr. Pullman added.

"Physicist and psychologist—what a potent combination," 11th remarked.

Richard laughed. "Yes, that's what I would say as well." Pullman frowned.

"So, I just popped out of nowhere," The 11th Doctor said, "And I was just wondering-where am I, exactly?"

"Brain damage from space exposure?" Pullman asked.

"You would know," The Eleventh Doctor remarked.

"We are over Polongus," The Eighth Doctor told him, "The home of multi-eyed slug-like creatures. That space station over there," He pointed to the space station coming into view, "is the Great Sundialer, which is not from Polongus. We are reporting in to its captain, who has ordered us to come over, so that he might inspect our crew, and review our situation. I believe that he wishes to apprise us of a new situation." The 8th Doctor said, adding the last part coolly.

"All above board and fairly standard, I assume?" The 11th Doctor asked.

"As standard as can be in this dangerous hour," The 8th Doctor muttered. "I am-the Doctor, naturally, scientific leader of this expedition. We are trying to contact the Polongusians, and see if they need any help from us. Richard and I are traveling with this crew for a short time only. Our research assistant is down on the planet still, collecting bugs and what not. That is about it."

The Eleventh Doctor slowly nodded. He liked this crew-they all seemed to be fairly wonderful people, in their own personal, private way, but that was just it; he couldn't remember any of them. He couldn't remember any of this happening, Polongus or the Great Sundialer. He must have met them or done all of this before now, when he was 8th, but he could not remember meeting any of that now.

Hmm, vaguely he recalled Richard, Richard was a happy sort of fellow who always liked to joke around, but the rest-he could not even place what time this was in his life as the 8th Doctor, although he feared-no, it could not be. It just could not be, he must have done all of this before-the Time War.

* * *

><p>Captain Jack Harkness marched ahead, hands held up in the air as the Judoon followed along behind, aiming his weapon. "I like to think that if the situation was reversed-" Jack started to say.<p>

"Silence." The Judoon said.

They marched along corridors, men and women in uniform passing by them with no more than a brief glance before going back to business, chattering with each other in person or on communication devices, or else just hurrying-hurrying along like they were prepared to go to battle stations.

Jack knew he was on a military vessel. Everything was stark and bleak all around him, with cables and pipes sticking out of walls decorated with only drab gray paint or metal, sheeting plate and concrete. Not even research vessels were as bleak as this, although they came close.

Jack knew as well what organization this ship was run by, if he was already on this vessel in the past-the Time Agency. But nothing about this ship seemed to say 'Time Agency' to him. No, this ship was built by another military organization before the Time Agency must have 'borrowed' or bought it.

The Time Agency was more flamboyant and more relaxed about their operational policies. They never would have constructed such a drab and gray vessel as this if they could avoid it. Captain Jack had liked the Time Agency before he had lost two years of his life to it, wiped from his memory.

Finally, a door opened at the end of a hall, and Jack and the Judoon entered the bridge, overlooking the vastness of space with a command post so huge that it would make Captain James T. Kirk weep for his pitiful Enterprise bridge. The room covered about the same width and length as a theater hall on Broadway, although not quite so tall, with many computer banks and lots of technicians and other people whizzing about. Captain Jack Harkness whistled to himself, wondering what they were all doing, and what all of this was for.

"What is this?" He heard a voice he vaguely recognized say, and turned around-"What is this, some sort of Ganger or carbon copy?" There he was, his younger self stood before him, about 160 years ago, give or take two. He was dressed in a dark blue uniform, much the same as everybody else here on this ship, except for some dorky-looking captain's hat perched upon his head.

"Is that me? Is that what I really sound like?" Jack asked the Judoon and himself standing there. "And what is with-" He asked, pointing up at the hat.

"Don't touch the hat." His younger self said, recoiling back.

"Captain Kaliya Narfarari-this person seems to be you." The Judoon said, holding up his scanning device. "There are indications of time disrupture, but nothing else. This is no copy, not even Flesh. This is you."

"I had an encounter with a Flesh machine once," Captain Jack Harkness remarked in the silence that followed. "It was remarkable, in its own way, inhabiting that other body-pretty pleasant, too." He smiled.

"Silence! I am you and you are me and I have a gun!" Kaliya said, removing his weapon.

"That is just-why do you have to do that?" Captain Jack asked. "Is it really necessary? I mean, I have got another weapon pointed at me, from this lovely fellow here," He said, indicating the Judoon, "and-do you remember that time loop with Michael when-"

"Did Michael send you?" Kaliya asked.

"No! He didn't, and-why do you have to be this way?" Jack asked. "Can't you just accept that I am from your future?"

"No, I have no future." Kaliya told him.

An intercom whistled. "Captain, the RSS Sinestra has docked." The communicator reported.

"Come with me-Fo!" Kaliya called back to the Judoon, and the trio headed towards the dock. "Do not attempt to escape." Kaliya told Jack.

"I won't." Captain Jack said, rolling his eyes. "Why do you believe that I have no future?" He asked his younger self.

"Because we are at war, against an enemy greater than any we have ever known, and this time, we are not going to win by reasonable ways," Captain Kaliya said, walking along. "Surely you must know that?" He asked, "Being from my future?"

Captain Jack stopped. "You don't mean-no. It can't be," He said until the Judoon jabbed him to keep moving along. "This cannot be happening."

"What can't?" Captain Kaliya Narfarari asked, amused.

* * *

><p>The crew of the RSS Sinestra had just got off their ship when suddenly both Doctors sensed-"Jack!" The 11th Doctor cried, pumping his fist into the air. "Jack, I knew it! I knew that he would survive. How did he get here? I don't know. But I knew that he would survive, it was a given. One good thing about him." He remarked.<p>

"Ow, it hurts me," The 8th Doctor complained. "What do you mean 'Jack', Partisan? It's a fixed point in time, can't you feel that too?" The 8th Doctor asked.

"What's a fixed point in time?" Richard asked.

"It's a point where I cannot interfere, which does not change and remains the same, as time slips around it," The 8th Doctor said, staring at the 11th Doctor.

"I'm traveling with him, Doctor, he's my friend." The 11th Doctor said, looking around."I don't understand your problem. Granted, the first time I felt it, I, too, wanted to run a thousand miles away from him-and I have sort of stayed away from him most of the time. But I can stand it, on a fairly limited basis. Why can't you?"

The 8th Doctor sighed and rolled his eyes. "All right, you have a greater tolerance level than I have, bonus point for you. Now how did he get that way?"

"Difficult to explain." The 11th Doctor said. "Suffice to say, he was given a second chance to live after he died, and apparently he got a lot of those second chances-about a thousand lifetimes' worth, give or take. He is almost immortal, although I may have seen him die." He said.

There were quite a lot of ships on board this docking bay, most of them fighters, but a few of them were transporters, similar to the RSS Sinestra-a research vessel that had probably come out of this dock, or from a neighboring planet in the solar system. None of these transporters could travel very far.

"By the way, where is your TARDIS?" The 11th Doctor asked himself.

"Down on the planet." The 8th Doctor said. "Where is yours?"

"Good to know. I don't know where mine is yet, if it is somewhere. I can't help him because he does not change, yet he still needs my help." The 11th said.

"Well said," The 8th Doctor smiled.

"Huh?" Richard Myers said.

"Why should you bother with these fools, Richard?" Dr. Arnold Pullman said, shaking his head. "I still can't believe you're with them-they're just talking nonsense." He turned to the captain. "I still don't understand why we had to help Richard and the Doctor with this slug project-"

"It could be very useful to our cause," Captain Jacob Baker reported. "Besides, you know this is just a sideline to-"

"Attention, Captain Kaliya Narfarari on the deck!" Someone shouted, and Lt. Carolina Stuart saluted as the rest of the crew followed order-the 8th Doctor had to prod the 11th into doing so, as the Doctor was gaping.

Kaliya Narfarari—quite different from how he remembered him—strode into the docking bay, looking around, followed by—Captain Jack Harkness, Kaliya's future self, prodded on by a Judoon. The rest of the RSS Sinestra crew, the people in the docking bay, and the 8th Doctor gaped as well when they realized Kaliya had a twin with him. Captain Jack Harkness opened his mouth, but the 11th Doctor quickly swiped a hand across his throat, trying to look casual yet implying-however, Kaliya noticed, as did 8th.

"What is this? Who are you?" Kaliya asked, pointing at the 11th.

"I am-"

"Captain Kaliya Narfarari, it appears there has been some sort of mix-up." The 8th Doctor said, stepping forward, "Of a temporal form. I am the Doctor, and whether you know it or not, that man behind you is yourself. Most likely from the future, as this man beside me-" He pointed out 11th—"is me. In the future. I am a Time Lord, and I regenerate-which means taking on a different shape, as the cells in my body reshape and reform themselves when they have suffered damage of a catastrophic nature. That is why he is near unrecognizable."

Richard gaped at 11 and 8, as did the others.

"Why did you tell him that now?" The 11th Doctor asked.

Kaliya said, "Doctor?"

"I asked if I could call you Cal or Calvin the first time that we met," The 11th Doctor said, turning to him. "When you were not Jack, and you gave me your real name. I told you that you would be facing two years of decay and desperation, as well as nightmares."

Captain Jack and the 8th Doctor, startled, stared at the 11th Doctor. Kaliya said, "This man here-" He pointed to Jack-"Said the same thing about coming from the future-near enough." Kaliya sighed.

"I do not understand this, but I am of the Time Agency—I can understand temporal disturbances, especially in the state that we are in. And I have met the Doctor here once before—in another form, when we traveled together for almost a year. And Doctor-" He said, frowning. "It has been more than 2 years. Though I have never met my future self before, in all the time that I-" Kaliya examined Captain Jack closely. "What have you done to my face?" He asked.

"I gave it a boost," Jack said, and turned to the 11th Doctor. "Is this-"

"Where is Amy, Jack?" The 11th Doctor asked.

"I don't know, I—don't tell me she isn't with you!"

"She was, but then—I lost hold of her in the Vortex." The 11th Doctor said, shaking his head. "Amy, she-I wound up in space. It was just by sheer luck, or-" He glanced at 8th—"temporal disturbance that I wound up being picked up by this crew and myself before I died."

"What?" Kaliya and 8th Doctor said.

"This temporal disturbance that we have been speaking of," The 11th Doctor said, turning to his 8th self, "It was a form of paradox by which I, Jack, and Amy fell out of the TARDIS when-do you remember the time when you-me went to the Land of Fiction," 11th Doctor asked 8th, "with Zoe and Jamie, how the TARDIS walls sprang apart—strange how things repeat themselves, with different names."

"Zoe and Jamie?" Captain Jack asked.

"Anyway, now we were drawn to here and when-" The 11th Doctor turned around to Jack. "Where did you wind up, and how did you get there?"

"He was in a prisoner cell that was empty, a hole appeared in the ceiling, and he fell through." The Judoon said. "I checked the security tape twice."

"—I was in space." The 11th Doctor said. "I worried that the others-Jack is here. Amy is not. Either she wound up in another part of the Sundialer, or—in space, or..." The Doctor said, turning to a window. "Polongus!" He cried. "The nearest planet! If she fell sooner or fast enough through the Vortex, and if the planet's orbit was in alignment, then maybe she was attracted by the pull of gravity-"

"So we must sweep the whole planet in search of one person?" Kaliya asked. "I will not do that, not even for-" He shook his head. "We are wasting time here. Your friend died, accept that. I am sorry, but-"

Captain Jack and the 11th Doctor nearly attacked Kaliya then, but the 8th Doctor said, "Wait a minute-based on what has been said here, I believe there may be a pattern."

The 8th Doctor turned to his future self. "You say that you all fell at different rates of speed, at different times? Perhaps we might plot a course, based on the vector of the Vortex's trajectory and the planet's gravity field, as to where this Amy might have wound up." He turned to Kaliya, and told him, "You could easily issue an order to have this ship searched-see if she is on board here."

Captain Kaliya sighed and slowly nodded. "I could, and will do that, but we must get down to business. We are all here for a reason, are we not?" He asked.

"Crew of the RSS Sinestra-follow me. Captain Jack, Doctors—you might as well come along. We will have a private conference," He said, striding off, with the Judoon staying behind to make sure that everyone else fell in line.

The others went along, with the Judoon following behind. The 11th Doctor turned to 8th. "Thank you. I had not thought of that." 11 said.

"You are a wreck." The 8th Doctor told him bluntly. "We must have a talk—in private, if we get the chance," The 8th Doctor said, glancing at the Judoon.


End file.
